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Your Favorite Eurovision CommunityWed, 23 May 2018 04:25:57 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.6Podcast: Israel’s Hosting Situation (Eurovision 2019)http://escunited.com/podcast-israels-hosting-situation-eurovision-2019/
http://escunited.com/podcast-israels-hosting-situation-eurovision-2019/#respondWed, 23 May 2018 04:25:57 +0000http://escunited.com/?p=33960In our first Podcast of the 2019 season, Matt is discussing the most recent developments when it comes to Israel hosting the 2019 Song Contest. Since Netta won the contest with the song “Toy”, the country is being given the honor to host next year’s event and bring people from all across the globe together.

However, over the last few days, a lot has happened and a lot of questions and concerns were raised. That includes multiple voices asking to boycott the event, religious leaders asking to honor religious laws and a dubious post on the official page of the Eurovision Song Contest.

It’s not always the easiest task to stay fair and diplomatic when you discuss sensitive topics like the Israel/Palestine situation. But we tried our best to be respectful and not focus on our personal opinion on the conflict but how this may (or may not) affect the contest. You can listen to the Podcast on iTunes or download it HERE

]]>http://escunited.com/podcast-israels-hosting-situation-eurovision-2019/feed/0ESC 2019: Where exactly are we going?http://escunited.com/esc-2019-where-exactly-are-we-going/
http://escunited.com/esc-2019-where-exactly-are-we-going/#commentsMon, 21 May 2018 19:56:39 +0000http://escunited.com/?p=33920

Any views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not represent ESC United as a whole, its staff or the views of the EBU and Eurovision.

The 2018 edition of the contest has come to an end. However, let’s not let the Post Eurovision Depression hit us, and look forward instead!

Netta with the Eurovision Trophy

Once again, a big congratulation to Netta from Israel, for winning the song contest with her song “Toy”. Thanks to that, the entire Eurovision land is now moving on it’s way from Lisbon to… somewhere in Israel.

For Eurovision fans and followers, 2019 doesn’t start on 1st January. It started the moment Israel were crowned as winners.

Before we start, I’d like to point out, that this is meant as a useful article, that will point most things out, and what else to expect. This is all viewed from a neutral side, and is just stating some facts and information, that I’ve found around online in the past few days, so hope we’re all cool and good to go.

Start Preparing NOW!

Why now? There is like 1 year until it all happens again. Yes, yes, yes… listen, if you don’t do it now, you’ll probably never do it. Then again, what do I know? You might be an experienced Eurovision person, and you might know already what you’re doing, but if you aren’t, you’ll probably be happy for these tips.

If you plan to be in Israel during the contest period, you want to get yourself ready as soon as possible. First of all, Israel is not exactly your typical Middle Eastern country, it is expensive… VERY expensive! Book some hotel rooms now, and save yourself some cash for all of the parties. Also, Israel have many political enemies as they have allies, so expect the 2019 edition to be one of the most closely-guarded contests of all time.

Be sure to check which rules count for you and how you can enter the country, and here I’m speaking from my own experience.

Israel is a rather small country, and the largest cities are closely located to each other, so transport to the host city should not be a problem. Most likely, the airport you’ll end up at is probably going to be Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion Airport. There is also Eliat-Ramon Airport & Haifa-U. Michaeli Airport, which are also international airports, albeit minor.

Tel-Aviv Ben Gurion International Airport

I personally don’t know what to say when it comes to transport, since I walked mostly when I last was in Israel, but do avoid taking a cab! You should be all good during Eurovision when it comes to transport, since there are many Israeli Eurovision fans, so if you run into one, you can count on them.

Where Are We Going Then?

Some years ago, we would easily just assume that we’d be heading to either the capital of the country or the largest city, and this was also the case normally. However, organizing the contest has changed a lot over the years, and after 2011 & 2013 especially, we need an official confirmation from the host country and the EBU.

I’m highlighting 2011 & 2013 for good reasons, 2011 because Germany is a big country, with multiple cities that have the infrastructure to host such an event. (Hotels, transport, airport, etc.) While Sweden in 2013, was expected to pick Stockholm, but surprised everyone announcing Malmö as host city, to make the contest cheaper to organize, especially after Baku went all in on hosting in 2012 (Baku Crystal Hall was specially build just for Eurovision).

Nowadays, after the winning country is announced, multiple cities will then stand in line and fight for the possibility to host the contest, if they can afford hosting such an event that is.

Already now, we have heard about 3 candidate cities in Israel, which have expressed their possibility to host the contest, with a total of 5 possible venues.

The bidding has only just begun, so more cities might bid in at a later point, but for now, we have the following:

Jerusalem Arena is currently the front runner, to host the 2019 contest

Be’er Sheva – Turner Stadium (Capacity: 16,126)

Haifa – Sammy Ofer Stadium (Capacity: 30,870)

Jerusalem – Pais Jerusalem Arena (Capacity: 15,654)

Jerusalem – Teddy Stadium (Capacity: 31,733)

Petah Tikva – no venue currently

From the current possibilities, 3 of the 4 venues are football stadiums and all 3 pose the same problem; none of them have a roof. Not only that, but the capacity of these 3 venues are also rather high, compared to the recent editions, except with Turner Stadium.

Then we have the Pais Arena, which is located in the leading choice of Jerusalem.

However, while doing all this research, just for this one article(!), the mayor of Tel-Aviv, Ron Huldai, announced that Tel-Aviv is not interested in hosting the contest.

Despite the announcement by Netta on stage after winning, that the contest would be in Jerusalem and even with the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, also claiming that the contest will be in Jerusalem, we still need the approval of this decision by the EBU. After all, it is the EBU and the host broadcaster that is in charge, and are the ones who are responsible for selecting the best suited possible venue.

Why is it a big deal?

Well, just by mentioning the name of the country “Israel“, makes it indeed a very big deal, and as much we all just wish to keep it all about the music, then this can end up being the biggest political contest to date.

The International Convention Center in Jerusalem hosted both the 1979 & the 1999 contest

For starters, this is Israel’s 4th Eurovision win, but will be the 3rd time they host it. They previously hosted the contest in 1979 & 1999 (See you in 2039 as well, maybe?), and even back then it was controversial. In 1979, some countries didn’t take part for political reasons, the show was still young back then and didn’t attract as much attention, compared to their win some days ago. Yugoslavia stated that they didn’t wish to take part, due to political reasons, and even Turkey withdrew as well. In the case with Turkey, they were planning on taking part, but with pressure from the Arab states surrounding the region, Turkey was forced to withdraw.

Incidents about Israel hosting in 1999 also took place, with Dana International winning the year before. Dana being transgender sparked major protests from orthodox Jews who wanted the contest removed from Israel. However, both editions of the contest in 1979 & 1999 were still held in Jerusalem, despite all the controversial stuff that it sparked, and with that in mind, then we shouldn’t be worried about the contest in 2019.

Then again, as modernized the world has become, with anyone having access to any sort of info any time they wish, and even knowing what happens around the world 24/7, could be one of the major problems for Israel hosting the 2019 contest, and the main reason for why it will be as political as it already is.

Through social media and news outlets, anyone can pretty much voice their opinion, and already now politicians and political parties from different countries, such as Ireland, France, Iceland & Sweden, have already suggested that the contest should be boycotted next year.

Why Israel, and how?

Why, well… to be fair, I’m pretty tired of all these stories being told over and over again, and the longer all the conflicts lasts, the more the stories will be told. If I have to do it short, then it’s all because of religion and after what happened during World War II.

Here’s the more interesting part, the “how?” part. How is Israel even allowed to take part in this contest, and to even host it as well? Many Eurovision fans probably already know this, but since more and more watch the contest every year, then more and more people wonder about this as well, so here we go again…

In order to take part in the contest, you need a public service broadcaster to be part of the EBU (The European Broadcasting Union), be from a country that is part of the Council of Europe and be from a recognized state by the UN. (This is, for example, why Kosovo still can’t take part.)

The “European Broadcasting Area” zone

Despite that, a country can still only take part, if the broadcaster is within the EBA (European Broadcasting Area). If a country fulfills these few requirements, then they are permitted to take part in the contest. (Australia is just a special case, but let’s not get into that, since they aren’t the point of this topic).

Israel fulfills all the requirements, and so is allowed to take part in the competition, as well as hosting it, whenever they win. Even some African and other Middle Eastern countries are allowed to take part and can if they wish, the reason they don’t is because of… you guessed it, Israel.

Israel even won the contest in 1979 on home soil, but were forced to decline hosting it again due to economic difficulties and even withdrew from the contest, since the contest was planned to take place on Israel’s Day of Remembrance.

This, in contrast, made the debut for Morocco in 1980 a possibility, and remains the only year when Morocco has taken part. Tunisia planned to participate in 1977, and Lebanon almost took part as well in 2005, but both withdrew due to their law of not showing Israeli content on television.

With all this said, then Israel is therefore following the rules, and are indeed allowed to host the contest next year, and it is also quite dumb that some certain people complain about this, when it’s too late. When a country take part in the contest, the chance of winning is there. Anyhow, it’s not up to the politicians who take part, but the public broadcasters around Europe.

Ofer Nachshon announcing the end of IBA, in 2017

Then again, let’s take a look back on the 2017 contest. Israel made their debut in 1973, and has participated since with some few exceptions. However, from 1973 until 2017, Israel was able to compete due to IBA (Israel Broadcasting Authority) being a EBU member. The last show IBA aired on their channel, was actually the 2017 contest. The broadcaster was shut down after the contest had finished, and even during the voting in 2017, when it was Israel’s turn to announce their jury votes, the spokesperson of Israel, Ofer Nachshon, bid farewell to Europe on behalf of IBA. After this, many misunderstood the farewell, as 2017 being the last time Israel would compete in Eurovision, which was not the case as we all saw. However, this did leave Israel with no stations being an EBU member, and therefore shouldn’t have been able to compete this year. The EBU made a deal with the new broadcaster IPBC (Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation) that they could take part, with the broadcaster holding an interim membership. Technically then, Israel shouldn’t have been able to compete this year, but the EBU granted them special dispensation, so they could continue their participation. This is not the first time the EBU has done such, this also happened with Greece, after their broadcaster ERT was dissolved in 2013. The new Greek broadcaster NERIT was also given an interim membership, until 2015 when ERT was restored.

There is no special treatment solely given to Israel, all the rules are followed, so we just gotta deal with the things as it all is right now.

Okay, so how’s it looking so far?

Looking back on everything that has been said so far, then let’s all just relax, take a deep breath and think that everything is going to be just fine. Israel has hosted the contest before, the politicians are not in charge of it all, it’s all fair games and I’m even pretty sure to say, that it’s going to be a great time in Israel. Like we always say to ourselves, it’s a song contest, it’s an annual party and a celebration of diversity.

As of now, multiple countries have already expressed that they will take part in the contest next year. These are the countries that have confirmed their participation:

Bulgaria – BNT

Denmark – DR

Estonia – ERR

Finland – YLE

France – FT

Germany – NDR/ARD

Iceland – RÚV*

Israel (Hosts) – IPBC

Norway – NRK

Poland – TVP

San Marino – SMRTV

Serbia – RTS

Spain – TVE

Sweden – SVT

Switzerland – SRG/SSR

Ukraine – UA:PBC

The current total of participating nations is on 15, and it is also expected that the number of participants will rise in the months to come. As always the contest will be held in the month of May, but the EBU has not revealed anything about the exact dates for the contest, but considering it’s Israel that will host the contest, then the Jewish calendar might be taken into consideration. “Yom Ha’atzmaut” will be held on the 9th of May 2019, while “Lag Ba’omer” will be held on the 23rd of May 2019. Both days are Thursdays which is when the Second Semi-final normally takes place. It is therefor only for now expected, that the contest will take place on the 14th, 16th & 18th of May 2019. Finally, there is also the weekly “Sabbath“, which is the rest day for the citizens and is considered holy as well by the Jewish population. How the contest is going to be scheduled is certainly uncertain at this point.

Despite the difficulty with the schedule for the contest next year, rumors have been pointing towards that the contest might be held on the 21st, 23rd & 25th of May. Official confirmation is still needed from both the broadcaster and the EBU.

(*) – Originally the Icelandic broadcaster RÚV had originally confirmed their participation for the 2019 contest, but after recent events surrounding the Middle East nation, more and more citizens of Iceland have also now considered boycotting the contest in 2019. An online petition has already gained more than 20,000 signatures for the Icelandic broadcaster to withdraw from the contest.

Final words for now

The road to Israel from this point will obviously be very controversial and politically influenced. Yet that is not what we as Eurovision fans stand for, and all we can do is hope that the EBU stand by the their ground and avoid any sort of manipulation from outside sources.

Traditions and rules have to be respected indeed, but both sides need to find the best possible solutions for all groups and individuals involved.

Should the contest take place in Jerusalem, then do respect the status of the city, as a holy city and avoid any conflict with any groups that are unrelated towards the contest. In general, just be respectful and honest if you wish to avoid trouble.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, I am speaking from my own point of view and experience as a former tourist in the country. I payed a visit to Israel back in 2015, just as a vacation trip and I had to prepare myself on any given possibility.

I was actually back then held back by the security guards when I landed in Tel-Aviv, they had to check me and make sure that I was not an outside threat in any sort. This should most likely not be a problem if you decide to visit Israel for Eurovision, but again just be prepared and don’t hide anything. I was still interrogated solely due to my father being from Iran, despite the fact I don’t hold dual citizenship.

Just enjoy the contest, enjoy the parties and have fun. The contest should be like any other contest that we’ve had in the past!

What do #YOU think about all of this? Do #YOU believe that this will turn out a successful contest? Share your thoughts with us on our forum HERE or join the discussion below and on social media!

Eurovision 2018 was certainly an eventful edition of the contest for many countries involved, but for none moreso perhaps than the United Kingdom, whose participation was interrupted by a stage invader at the contest’s final.

SuRie, performing the British entry “Storm”, had the microphone snatched out of her hand by an activist with a backpack, prompting a backlash and waves of concern online from viewers across the globe.

Despite this set back, the UK finished 24th out of 26 entries, leaving the BBC with another poor showing in the competition. Many have wondered what needs to happen to get a quality song and the UK back on the left-hand side of the scoreboard – enter JOWST!

The Norwegian producer and DJ who represented Norway last year with Aleksander Walmann has offered his services to the BBC next year via Twitter to produce an entry, provided he could find a suitable British performer to sing it.

Many have provided suggestions in the responses, including SuRie herself, Paloma Faith, James Bljnt (who have both allegedly been interested in entering) and AlunaGeorge.

JOWST finished 10th in Kyiv with “Grab the Moment” and earlier this year he released a collaboration with the Bulgaria runner up of 2017, Kristian Kostov.

What do #YOU think of JOWST’s offer? Discuss this news in our new 2019 forum right HERE or join the discussion below and on social media!

Well everyone, this is it! It’s all of our Christmases, birthdays and holidays rolled into one because for one night the focus is on Europe, the music and the show! Yes, tonight sees the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 take place, and what a final it promises to be!

26 acts will be fighting it out for the title in what is surely the most competitive final for a number of years, with numerous potential winners in the competition. Currently, it is Cyprus who head the odds at this moment, but of course anything can happen in Eurovision, and Israel remain a threat, alongside Norway and France and surprise packages in Lithuania and Ireland. And let’s not count out the previous favourites of Estonia, Bulgaria and Sweden, among others!

There’s set to be a lot to analyse, so we will be live an hour before the grand final to prepare you adequately for the evenin that lies ahead, as well as going live straight after a winner is chosen so that we can de-construct everything that happened in Lisbon!

#YOU don’t want to miss it, so make sure not to by following the links below. Also, make sure to like and subscribe to us on YouTube at TVESCUnited and ESC United Live, and #YOU won’t miss a second of reaction to 2018 and preparation for 2019!

The day is here, the Grand Final of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest takes place tonight. In a few hours we have a winner and potentially the host country of next year’s contest. Team United took a stab at predicting tonight’s outcome which was not an easy task. All six members that are currently in Lisbon predicted the overall outcome and we combined all six scores to create an overall ranking. You can watch our Top 10 Prediction by watching the video below.

You can see the individual results below:

]]>http://escunited.com/eurovision-2018-top-10-predictions/feed/2ESC 2018: Voting order now also out!http://escunited.com/esc-2018-voting-order-now-also-out/
http://escunited.com/esc-2018-voting-order-now-also-out/#respondSat, 12 May 2018 07:50:06 +0000http://escunited.com/?p=33901

While Europe is waiting to know who will win the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 (and some of us are still wondering about how it went during the semi-finals!), the EBU has now also revealed the voting order for the grand final.

Back in 2016, a huge change was made to the voting procedure for the contest, with every competing country awarding 2 sets of points. One set of points coming from the national juries, and the other set of points coming from the viewers who vote all across Europe & Australia.

The jury points will be announced first, with each country’s 12 being revealed by their spokesperson as the remaining scores are automatically revealed. The spokespeople will announce their country’s 12 in the following order.

Ukraine – Nataliia Zhyzchenko

Azerbaijan – Asadov Tural

Belarus – NAVIBAND

San Marino – John Kennedy O’Connor

The Netherlands – O’G3NE

F.Y.R. Macedonia – Jana Burceska

Malta – Lara Azzopardi

Georgia – Tako Gachechiladze

Spain – Nieves Alvarez

Austria – Kati Bellowitsch

Denmark – Ulla Essendrop

United Kingdom – Mel Giedroyc

Sweden – Felix Sandman

Latvia – Dagmara Legante

Albania – Andri Xhahu

Croatia – Ursula Tolj

Ireland – Nicky Byrne

Romania – Sonia Argint-Ionescu

Czech Republic – Radka Rosicka

Iceland – Edda Sif Palsdottir

Moldova – Julieta Ardovan

Belgium – Danira Boukhriss Terkessidis

Norway – JOWST & Aleksander Walmann

France – Elodie Gossuin

Italy – Giulia Valentina Palermo

Australia – Ricardo Goncalves

Estonia – Ott Evestus

Serbia – Dragana Kosjerina

Cyprus – Hovig

Armenia – Arsen Grigoryan

Bulgaria – Joanna Dragneva

Greece – Olympia Xenopoulou

Hungary – Bence Forro

Montenegro – Natasa Sotra

Germany – Barbara Schöneberger

Finland – ABREU

Russia – Alsou

Switzerland – Leticia Carvalho

Israel – Lucy Ayoub

Poland – Marcelina Zawadzka

Lithuania – Eglė Daugėlaitė

Slovenia – Amaya

Portugal – Pedro Ricardo Pacheco Fernandes

Familiar Faces

Multiple spokespersons are rather familiar faces to the Eurovision fanbase, with many of them having represented their country in the past. Among those, we have NAVIBAND, O’G3NE, Jana Burceska, Tako Gachechiladze, JOWST & Hovig, who all represented their nations in the 2017 contest. Yet it doesn’t end there, as there are also singers from even further back, such as Nicky Byrne for Ireland in 2016, Joanna Dragneva for Bulgaria in 2008, Alsou for Russia in 2000 and also Amaya(back then as Maja Keuc) for Slovenia in 2011.

There are others who have been the national spokesperson for a number of years, which is the case with Azerbaijan, Austria, Denmark, Albania, Romania & Germany.

About The Voting

In recent years, the voting order has been revealed after the second dress rehearsal of the final, also known as the jury final. This has been done so that the EBU can create some suspense throughout the entire voting sequence, in order to avoid revealing a run-away winner until the last possible moment, in order to maintain the excitement!

However, this was done before the voting rules were changed in 2016, since it now doesn’t matter what the outcome of the jury voting is, as anything can still happen when the televote points are being revealed.

The EBU has even revealed that the voting order was determined several weeks ago. Despite this, we still only got the voting order less than 24 hours before the grand final.

Fans would normally use the voting order to try and work out who might win based on the countries who vote earlier and later before the show takes place, but with the televotes being announced at the end, this is longer as easy as it once was…

Anyhow, it’s still hard to tell if any of this year’s big favourites will win, with the current top 3 with the bookies being Cyprus, Israel & Ireland. All 3 acts will perform near the end of the running order, so it’s hard to tell in whose favour the voting order is.

The only thing that we probably can be sure about is that Ukraine are performing first since they hosted the contest last year and Portugal are closing the show as this year’s hosts. A nice way to say that the hosts have done their job and are ready to give the honour to the next country. It also seems likely that Portugal will be the first country to give out their votes next year. This has been done since 2016, when Austria was the first to give their points, while Sweden was last, and as well as in 2017, when Sweden was the first to give their points and Ukraine were last.

The contest is coming to an end, but we still wonder, who do #YOU think will win it all, and where will we be going next year?

Some controversy appears to have surfaced overnight with regards to the Italian broadcast of last night’s second semi-final of Eurovision 2018, as the commentators of RAI 4 in Italy, Saverio Raimondo and Carolina di Domenico implored viewers to boycott voting for San Marino due to the fact their jury gave 0 to Francesco Gabbani’s entry in 2017.

The full clip with a translated transcript of the controversial statements from the commentators can be found below;

Saverio: Attention, red alert, we are in the red zone. San Marino, high attention because the Italians are angry with San Marino because they betrayed us last year.

Carolina: There are people on Twitter who never forget.

Saverio: “Exactly. San Marino’s vote determined Gabbani’s elimination. San Marino for us is like Ohio for Hilary Clinton. So we can say that San Marino is our personal Ohio in Eurovision.”

Carolina: “But they went to the isle of Madiera-“

Saverio: “Yeah yeah okay, whatever, but they have to lose.”

Carolina: “There are two guys pulling the girls in basket.”

Saverio: “Yeah but they are like two Venetian gondoliers there to kill them. They are they to boycott the performance.”

This afternoon, following the relevation of this news, the head of delegation for San Marino in Eurovision, Alessandro Capicchioni, released a statement to the press regarding the controversy, which can be seen in full below;

“For the past 10 years, as Head of Delegation for San Marino, which makes me one of the longest serving among my Eurovision colleagues, I have never seen anything similar to what happened yesterday during the broadcast of semi final 2 at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest. The two RAI 4 commentators made offensive statements and spread fake news; such as claiming that Francesco Gabbani failed to win Eurovision 2017 because of the San Marino vote. This is a completely fake news story and professionals, or presumed professionals, should carefully avoid such dishonesty, especially considering that they are speaking on behalf of one of Europe’s oldest and most respected Public Broadcasters. They even used the word “infamous” to describe a definitely friendly country.

“As anyone who reviews the scoring can clearly see, even if the San Marino jury had awarded Italy 12 points last year, Italy would only have placed 6th, independently of the fact that juries are sovereign in all nations, not just San Marino, and that they answer only to their own conscience. San Marino has never commented that Italy has never once awarded San Marino anything more than 6 points.

“The damage during the live show has now been done, regardless of whether it helped or hindered San Marino.

“Disappointingly, the behaviour of the two commentators during the live broadcast on RAI 4 is not only scandalous, but intolerable. It would be interesting to know if the same thing – even the word “infamous” has been used towards an independent and friendly country – would have been used from another country to one of their neighbours, indeed, their closest neighbour. At San Marino RTV, we could passibly ask Russia, or Germany, just for examples, how they’d have reacted.

“As Head of Delegation, I will meet with the Director General of San Marino RTV today – he’s here in Lisbon – to solicit an evaluation from the EBU regarding what has happened.”

There have been no further statements regarding this matter from either the EBU or RAI as of yet.

Image credit: Andres Putting (EBU)

What do #YOU think, what action should be taken regarding this story? Share your thoughts with us on our forum HERE or join the discussion below and on social media!

Well, here we are! 26 countries are in the final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest and tonight we will see all of the acts perform for the juries, meaning half of this year’s result will be decided tonight!

The running order for tonight’s show is as follows;

Ukraine – Mélovin – Under The Ladder

Spain – Alfred y Amaia – Tu Cancion

Slovenia – Lea Sirk – Hvala, Ne!

Lithuania – Ieva Zasimauskaitė – When We’re Old

Austria – Cesar Sampson – Nobody But You

Estonia – Elina Nechayeva – La Forza

Norway – Alexander Rybak – That’s How You Write A Song

Portugal – Claudia Pascoal – O Jardim

United Kingdom – SuRie – Storm

Serbia – Sanja Ilic & Balkanika – Nova Deca

Germany – Michael Schulte – You Let Me Walk Alone

Albania – Eugent Bushpepa – Mall

France – Madame Monsieur – Mercy

Czech Republic – Mikolas Josef – Lie To Me

Denmark – Rasmussen – Higher Ground

Australia – Jessica Mauboy – We Got Love

Finland – Saara Aalto – Monsters

Bulgaria – EQUINOX – Bones

Moldova – DoReDos – My Lucky Day

Sweden – Benjamin Ingrosso – Dance You Off

Hungary – AWS – Viszlát Nyár

Israel – Netta – Toy

Netherlands – Waylon – Outlaw In ‘Em

Ireland – Ryan O’Shaughnessy – Together

Cyprus – Eleni Foureira – Fuego

Italy – Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro – Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente

#YOU can follow every twist and turn of tonight’s jury show on our live stream below, so make sure to like and subscribe to us both at TVESCUnited and on our live stream channel below for all updates on our content!

Who do #YOU want to win this year’s Eurovision Song Contest? Let us know below, on our forum HERE or on social media @escunited!

Can #YOU believe it? We are finally here – the grand final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest lies just around the corner, and we’ve now had time to digest which 26 countries will compete for the title.

It has turned out to be quite an open year, with three or four countries gracing the betting odds top spot this week, and with many high quality songs that could potentially win. So the first chance we have of seeing the final and how it flows will be very important, and it happens this afternoon!

The first dress rehearsal of the grand final takes place this afternoon from 14:00 CET at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal, with all 26 finalists taking part.

We will be bringing #YOU all of the coverage from this, so make sure to check out our live streaming for the event above (and subscribe to our new live channel) and follow our live blogging of proceedings from inside the arena below.

Who do #YOU want to win this year’s contest? Let us know your thoughts below or on our forum HERE!

This years semi-finals have concluded, and now what’s left is only the final. Across the 2 semi-finals, a total of 37 countries have competed for the 20 spots, and we sure have witnessed something special.

The Grand Final will take place in less than 48 hours, and with all the finalists being now chosen, we also now have the full running order for the final.

This is the running order for the final:

Ukraine – Mélovin – Under The Ladder

Spain – Alfred y Amaia – Tu Cancion

Slovenia – Lea Sirk – Hvala, Ne!

Lithuania – Ieva Zasimauskaitė – When We’re Old

Austria – Cesar Sampson – Nobody But You

Estonia – Elina Nechayeva – La Forza

Norway – Alexander Rybak – That’s How You Write A Song

Portugal – Claudia Pascoal – O Jardim

United Kingdom – SuRie – Storm

Serbia – Sanja Ilic & Balkanika – Nova Deca

Germany – Michael Schulte – You Let Me Walk Alone

Albania – Eugent Bushpepa – Mall

France – Madame Monsieur – Mercy

Czech Republic – Mikolas Josef – Lie To Me

Denmark – Rasmussen – Higher Ground

Australia – Jessica Mauboy – We Got Love

Finland – Saara Aalto – Monsters

Bulgaria – EQUINOX – Bones

Moldova – DoReDos – My Lucky Day

Sweden – Benjamin Ingrosso – Dance You Off

Hungary – AWS – Viszlát Nyár

Israel – Netta – Toy

Netherlands – Waylon – Outlaw In ‘Em

Ireland – Ryan O’Shaughnessy – Together

Cyprus – Eleni Foureira – Fuego

Italy – Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro – Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente

Before the runner order was revealed, we only knew which half all the songs would be performed in, as well as Portugal performing on the 8th slot.

There will also be 2 break points in the performances, the first one being right after Portugal has performed, and the next one being right after Australia has performed.

Some fast noticeable things about the running order, would be that Finland will perform on slot 17, which is considered the lucky number at the Eurovision final. Finland also won the contest back in 2006, on that exact spot.

Italy was the only pre-qualified country to place in the second half, and will also close the show, which they also did in 2015 with Il Volo, back then Italy won the Televote.

The big favorites, Cyprus and Israel, are both placed near the bottom of the running order, so can this help either of the 2 major favorites the title?

Ukraine who also got the benefit of performing last in the second semi-final, will now start it all. The same fate that Laura Tesoro had with Belgium in 2016.

Anyhow, do #YOU see anything else that might be interesting about the running order this year, and of course, who do #YOU think will win it all?